Head west along North Valley Road and a great many wineries await, including Adelsheim, one of the region's pioneers, and Brick House, which makes some of the valley's most ethereal Chardonnays.
A bit farther west lies the town of Carlton, where a visit to the Carlton Winemakers Studio is a must, but don't leave out Ken Wright Cellars, in the old train depot, or Raptor Ridge's new tasting room, where you can line up half a dozen of their Pinots drawing from all corners of the valley.
Just outside of Carlton is WillaKenzie Estate, whose spectacular hilltop property is outdone only by the winery's single vineyard Pinots.
Back on 99W just south of Newberg, the traffic routinely bottlenecks in Dundee. (Let's just assume that's because of the number of wine lovers attracted to the great wineries in the Dundee Hills west of town.) Get your bearings with a bit of vintage bubbly at Argyle Winery on the main road, before heading up Archery Summit Road where many great wineries await, including Sokol-Blosser, Domaine Serene, Archery Summit, and Domaine Drouhin Oregon -- owned by the world-renowned Burgundy wine family, whose land purchase here famously put Oregon on the world wine map.
On your way south out of town you'll pass the southern flank of the Dundee Hills where the majestic Stoller Vineyard is; you can taste their lush Pinots and Chardonnays in a spectacular new winery and tasting facility at the base of the hill.
McMinnville is the next major town, a good pushing-off point for the wineries of the Eola Hills, source of darkly elegant wines from Bethel Heights, Cristom, Witness Tree, and Evesham Wood.
Southwest of town, seek out Maysara Winery, whose earth-inflected Pinots are drawn from the state's largest biodynamic vineyard.
If you're still looking for more, Pinot Gris aficionados especially should make a pilgrimage to King Estate and its picturesque, 1,000-plus-acre organic property south of Eugene. The winery is by far the state's largest producer of that variety, and it's certainly making some of the finest.
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Patrick Comiskey is senior correspondent for Wine & Spirits Magazine and a regular contributor to The Times Food section.
